Bristol Scout D +++ FINISHED +++

[Ray S]

Hello all. I did end up re-masking and used Revell's 85 Brown acrylic, and it looked a lot better!

 

 

It was at this stage that things started to go a bit pear-shaped. I was fiddling around with the struts and aligning them (for future reference), when I found that they would not align with the strut location holes marked on the forward fuselage. Looking at my plans, and images on line, I found that I had fitted the wings at the back of the area which is still in grey paint with the leading edge butting up against that section rather than having the LE forward of that area. I was about 3mm out, and it threw the geometry of the wings out. So...

 

 

... a rather drastic step, but at least the wings came off cleanly. I must admit I was tempted to leave it, but it really needed to be sorted. I had to modify the inboard area to make it fit the angle of the widening fuselage, and refitted them:

 

 

I used the same paper jig as before, but I drew in the nose datum this time. Goodness knows (I certainly don't!) what I used as my datum last time, but I think it was the grey/CDL divide. This time looking at the plans PROPERLY (again) I noticed that they had drawn in where the lower wing was as a dotted line on the Libramodels' instructions. I have absolutely no idea how I managed to build a vacform Felixstowe recently considering the number of mistakes I have made with this one.

 

Ah well, it is probably just as well that that is it for today.

 

Thanks for looking, Ray

[AdrianMF]

Good save! These things happen to all of us. Look on the bright side, you aren’t having to fill a ginormous gap around a badly fitting plastic slab running across the fuselage between the wings, which is what seems to be the price for a positive wing location.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Paul Thompson]

Too late as usual, but applicable to whatever you do next - different coloured CDL inside: not on a WW1 aircraft. Post war they started using a red primer, hence the salmon pink bleed through you see on later linen covered aeroplanes, but during the war it was initially a few coats of varnish, which looked more or less the same either side. Even if finished with a camouflage coat, this was blocked from bleeding through by the earlier dope coats, so it would still be CDL.

 

On the plus side, it's hardly visible on the Scout anyway, and with the top wing on you can safely forget it.

 

And as always, apologies if anyone pointed this out earlier.

 

Paul, king of the picky nit-pickers.

 

PS, I just looked at my old model from this kit, and remembered knocking the lower wings off accidentally 3 times, so in the great scheme of things you're still way ahead of me with this one.

 

 

[Ray S]

2 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Good save! These things happen to all of us. Look on the bright side, you aren’t having to fill a ginormous gap around a badly fitting plastic slab running across the fuselage between the wings, which is what seems to be the price for a positive wing location.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

I agree with that, having recently tackled the Airfix Albatros DVa!

 

2 hours ago, Paul Thompson said:

Too late as usual, but applicable to whatever you do next - different coloured CDL inside: not on a WW1 aircraft. Post war they started using a red primer, hence the salmon pink bleed through you see on later linen covered aeroplanes, but during the war it was initially a few coats of varnish, which looked more or less the same either side. Even if finished with a camouflage coat, this was blocked from bleeding through by the earlier dope coats, so it would still be CDL.

 

On the plus side, it's hardly visible on the Scout anyway, and with the top wing on you can safely forget it.

 

And as always, apologies if anyone pointed this out earlier.

 

No worries on this, I am always hoping to learn - I was not quite sure about the interior, and as you mentioned it is not overly visible (unlike the framework I got wrong!).

 

2 hours ago, Paul Thompson said:

PS, I just looked at my old model from this kit, and remembered knocking the lower wings off accidentally 3 times, so in the great scheme of things you're still way ahead of me with this one.

 

Give me time, give me time...!

 

The repair work was successful, I removed the plane from it's jig, and they were still attached. To try and help prevent the further accidental removal of the wings, I have given a good covering of CA above and below the joint, which I know will not be a cast-iron cure, but it may help. I have also started to repair the paintwork from where the wings were attached.

 

Thanks for looking, and for the comments. More soon!

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all. It is just another small update today. I have popped a gloss varnish onto the fuselage and upper surfaces of the wing, and added the first two transfers. Libramodels had supplied the Union Jacks but the red was quite a bit out of register, so I had to trawl through my transfer stash to find alternatives. I had a Libramodels sheet of purely Union Jacks, but they too were slightly (but visibly) out of register (the white this time), and then I came across a part used Pegasus sheet for the RNAS for Roundels and Flags (Pegasus 72-001). Result! The only trouble was, they did not do any flags of quite the right size, so, like so many things with this build, I have had to compromise.

 

 

 

The next ting I will do is mask the nose and get that repainted with the grey, followed by silver, then I think I will rig the control wires for the tailplanes (after fitting control horns) before adding the rudder, which is slowly being painted.

 

When I was playing with the struts this morning checking if they aligned properly this time, I found they stood in the correct position when I popped then into the blind location holes I had drilled. That will make things a little easier when I do actually glue them in! I hope I have not just banjaxed that!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Today has been a bit of a 'pick-and-mix' day for the Bristol Scout.

 

I have got the engine painted up, and it is showing some very nice detailing, it was beautifully moulded front...

 

 

and back...

 

 

I have drilled out the strut location holes on the upper wing, this time I drilled straight through, and will fill the holes when the wing is on:

 

 

The markings on the wing for the strut locations aligned very well with the ones I had already drilled in the lower wing, and again the struts stood unaided in these new holes.

 

I decided to try and fill the yawning chasms around the engine mounting plate, I was not sure if I could see them or not when the cowling was fitted, so I just tried to make sure:

 

 

I used Perfect Plastic Putty, plenty was used as it kept vanishing inside the fuselage (doh!), but at least the excess can be easily removed from the outside. The control horns (simplified) are on the tailplanes now too:

 

 

They have been painted a light grey, as suggested by Wingnut Wings for the Sopwith Pup. I will rig them later. The rudder/fin now has had three coats either side of Clear Doped Linen - that took quite a while as I had to do each side on it's own, with enamel paint while it was blue-tacked to a peg. The Libramodels transfer for the serial number, which goes on the rudder/fin looks to be marginally too large when I offer the rudder to the marking.

 

And finally today, I have filed down the prop and removed the location pin so I can turn the prop around and have the profile the correct way, so thanks @Brandy for that suggestion. I have cut a small sliver of 2mm plastic rod and CA'd it to the prop to represent a new boss, and added a few details to that plastic

 

 

That is it for now, it has been a good day for this.

 

All the best everyone, Ray

[Ray S]

With the limited time I have had available today I have fitted the engine, 

 

 

Further test fitting of the cowling and good lighting suggested that I could not see any of the filler I had used yesterday, so the cowling went on too:

 

 

 

It looks like the little shim of card I put in at the nose end came in handy, as the cowling was now pretty much spot on to match the contours. I am happy with that. I test-fitted the prop before committing glue to the cowling to see if the hub detail (that is now on the back of the prop) touched the engine, and it does (and it leaves a small gap between the cowling and the blades), so that will make gluing easier later on. The cowling has had a coat of dark grey, so now that section can be painted Aluminium/Silver when the grey has cured.

 

I have re-checked the serial number transfer, and it is too big (not by much though) for the rudder/fin, which is correct as far as my plans show. I do not have any transfers which are suitable in my collection, so I may have to see if I can cut them and get the numbers a little closer, or put them on the fuselage which was also done back in the day, but usually when there were roundels instead of the Union Jacks. Possibly another compromise.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking,

 

Ray

 

 

[Ray S]

Hello all. I have had another good hour or two with this. The first thing was to paint the cowling and engine area Silver. I used Revell 90 acrylic and brush-painted it and after a couple of coats it looked okay to me:

 

 

I have also now started the undercarriage, well, the spreader bar at least. I have borrowed the technique of one of our other BMers (AdrianMF if I recall), where I used some .8mm brass rod, then folded over some paper and PVA'd it to the rod to create an aerofoil section, then reinforced it with an overall coating of thin CA. It should be a bit stronger than using plastic entirely:

 

 

The paper still needs to be trimmed nearer to the brass rod to get the correct size. I have also started to do the make-or-break part of this, the interplane struts! I used Revell Contacta as the adhesive of choice, in the hope that it will create a stronger bond than CA. The struts are quite thin and will probably bend easily, so it will be a test of my shakes when I do add the top wing!

 

 

 

I aligned the forward rake by eye and comparing it with my book of plans, but the vertical 'straightness was done with a steel rule placed next to each strut. I let that all set for an hour or so, then the inner child in me wanted to see how it would look with the top wing in place:

 

 

I have scored the dihedral breaks in the wing and bent them to the correct angle, and I think I still need to make an adjustment or two to get that right. All in all it looks not too bad, but I will look again when the struts have set fully.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking.

 

Ray

[CliffB]

1 hour ago, Ray S said:

then the inner child in me wanted to see how it would look with the top wing in place:

 

I would never, ever do that 🤥

[Ray S]

Today was what I shall call 'interesting'!

 

"I checked the struts I had glued in yesterday and all was well, so phase 1 of Operation 'Fit the Top Wing' proceeded as scheduled, in as much as I glued the two rearmost struts into their location holes with Revell Contacta and reinforced that with some CA. I left that for an hour to set, and started to tease the two foremost struts into their location hole when, Officer, the whole wing structure collapsed.

 

I duly said 'Oops', as you do and thought 'What the Dickens do I do now?' I left it for an hour again for my nerves to calm down Sir, then plucked up courage to try again. I reset the struts into their location holes with both types of glue again, let it rest for a while then decided to try a different tack with my glue (pun intended!). This time, I put some Contacta into all four location holes in the underside of the top wing, and with trepidation, Officer, I turned the aircraft upside down and lowered it so the struts (well, three of them anyway), were in their location holes in the wing. Nervously Sir, I then managed to turn the aircraft back upright again and the wing did not fall off.

 

I was then very patient Sir, and then after another hour or so, I was able to pop some CA Gel into that final location point and get that last, recalcitrant strut into position. There rests my case."

 

Thankfully it has remained intact all day now, but it was a close-run thing. It all seems to have aligned fairly well too which is a miracle!

 

 

 

 

 

The fun will intensify over the next few days as I start to fit the cabane struts next, then the rigging. I have not drilled any pilot holes for the rigging this time, I will just try and pop a small dot of CA where the line goes and add the wire to that.

 

That is it for today, thanks for looking.

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all. After an enforced break, I was able to get a huge amount done to this yesterday:

 

 

In fact, I got twice as much done as I thought I would. I put the one serial number on, then remembered I had self-closing tweezers and was able to put the transfer on the other side too! And that was that for yesterday!

 

This morning, I was able to pop a couple of control horns onto the rudder and get them painted, and then I was onto the next 'make or break' section, the undercarriage legs. I drew a 'template' from my book of plans and tried to take into account the increased length of the legs due to their splay from the vertical in two planes. I trimmed some aerofoil strut to length and glued them together on the template:

 

 

I used Tamiya Extra Thin Cement followed by some carefully applied CA, and was still able to peel them off the paper no problem. I used CA Gel to attach them to the underside of the fuselage, and after a short while I had a look to see how the aircraft sat:

 

 

I knew I should not have put the white metal engine in! Try again:

 

 

That is better! I have added the fin/rudder, but I ended up making a new, slightly larger one so the serial number fitted properly. I don't think it looks too big.

 

 

As you can see, I have chickened out of fitting the cabane struts so far, but they will be next. In the meantime I have started to repaint the struts, which had been roughly painted by the previous owner of this kit.

 

 

I have been very pleased at how this went today, and I hope for some more luck when I do get around to the cabane struts and rigging.

 

Anyway, that is it for now, thanks for looking.

 

Ray

[Ray S]

I managed to grab some time at the workbench today, after I had noticed that there are only two weeks to go with this GB! Where has the time gone?

 

I painted the tyres to the white metal wheels with Humbrol 64 enamel, and hope that the enamel sticks to the white metal better than acrylic does. Then it was time to hit the cabane struts. I was a little concerned about fitting those as the wing structure is a little flimsy, but after cutting over-size then trimming each one to fit, all was done without mishap:

 

 

 

I also repainted the struts as the two coats they had already been given still showed the original strut colour through. A skid was fashioned from plastic strip and fitted and seems to be taking the weight of the model well so far. I have to admit that I am not happy with the cabane struts, and may well take them back out and redo them - I have cut them incorrectly at the top - doh! That faux pas is hardly visible on the model, but sticks out like a sore thumb on this image, and I know they are wrong.

 

 

I have also done the first fix for the holes drilled through the top wing for the struts, filled with Perfect Plastic Putty, so the cabane ones can be easily drilled out again for the re-fix of those struts.

 

 

I have made a list of what still needs doing, so, in no particular order, I still need to:

 

1 - refit the cabane struts (if they come out okay)

2 - refill wing holes

3 - paint and varnish the top wing

4 - add the final transfers

5 - add the wing control horns

6 - rig it

7 - add the wheels and retouch the paintwork

8 - add the tailplane struts

9 - add the pitot tube to the port forward strut

10 - make and add the wings hoops

 

Hopefully it will be done in time. Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

 

PS - I have removed the white blobs from the wing and interior - they were stray bits of filler!

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Ray S
Tidy the post

[AdrianMF]

Looking good Ray!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[AdrianMF]

7 hours ago, Ray S said:

Where has the time gone?

Amen to that brother. I had big plans for this GB, I’ll be lucky to squeeze my one out…

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Jinxman]

Looking very good - I've no hope of getting the Bulldog done, I'd love to see this little 'un finished.

[Ray S]

@AdrianMF and @Jinxman, thank you for those comments.

 

I decided right after posting yesterday's update to redo the cabane struts straight away. The originals pulled out very nicely and a fresh set were cut out (correctly this time!) and refitted, and it makes a huge difference in my opinion:

 

 

I also gave the top wing a unifying coat of Humbrol 27 as a base coat yesterday evening, it was as a consequence to spraying grey primer over the vacform prior to sanding it out. This morning I popped a coating of Humbrol Pale Stone on, then later this afternoon the first of what will be three coats of Humbrol Linen. All were brush-painted, and had been thinned with ColourCoats Naphtha Thinners. I get one drop of paint into my paint dish, then a drop of the thinner, stir it up and there is enough to do the wing in that little lot, so not much gets wasted. It dried very quickly too, it is touch dry in an hour, but I re-coat it after about six hours to be on the safe side. I have re-coated after only a couple of hours with no issues, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.

 

 

So my to do list looks like this now:

 

1 - refit the cabane struts (if they come out okay) DONE

2 - refill wing holes  DONE

3 - paint and varnish the top wing - IN PROGRESS

4 - add the final transfers

5 - add the wing control horns

6 - rig it

7 - add the wheels and retouch the paintwork

8 - add the tailplane struts

9 - add the pitot tube to the port forward strut

10 - make and add the wings hoops

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking and for the comments.

 

Ray

[Jinxman]

I would say those struts look better, one of those things you may have regretted if you had left them as is.

[Troy Smith]

Great build Ray,  lots of clear illustrations of practical problems solving,  and saves from the occasional mistake, along with not getting to paralysed by research...    

Really liked your colourful Sopwith Pup as well. 

cheers

T

[Ray S]

Thank you for your very kind words @Troy Smith, and @Jinxman, I agree I would have regretted not replacing the struts!

 

I have been able to get the final coats of Linen onto the top wing, it is just the varnishing that needs doing now, and I have started the rigging process. This time I am using the AmmoMIG Medium Fine 0.02mm rigging thread, it is even finer than the InfiniModel line I used for some recent biplane rigging. It still has that 'will it, won't it stick' issue with CA, sometimes it will not stick first go when positioned exactly right, but then will stick when it is not quite right, but that is why we love rigging biplanes, isn't it!

 

 

Another problem I have with the thread is that it is wound onto a small piece of card, and it seems to have been put on incorrectly, as it does not want to unwind - I have to keep unthreading it from itself! That is one reason I have not done much today, I thought I would leave well alone and do it in small chunks.

 

Anyway, my to do list is gradually getting shorter:

 

1 - refit the cabane struts (if they come out okay) - DONE

2 - refill wing holes -  DONE

3 - paint - DONE and varnish the top wing - TO FOLLOW

4 - add the final transfers

5 - add the wing control horns

6 - rig it - IN PROGRESS

7 - add the wheels and retouch the paintwork

8 - add the tailplane struts

9 - add the pitot tube to the port forward strut

10 - make and add the wings hoops

 

The end of the GB is getting too close for comfort, but I think I will be on time, cross fingers!

 

Thanks for looking, and for the comments and 'likes',

 

Ray

[AdrianMF]

7 hours ago, Ray S said:

The end of the GB is getting too close for comfort

Hear hear! The Scout is looking great. And lists are good!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Ray S]

16 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Hear hear! The Scout is looking great. And lists are good!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

Thanks Adrian, very much appreciated! The list will continue, it serves as a reminder for me as I do tend to forget things.

 

Two more 'to do's' are crossed off now. Two coats of Revell Gloss acrylic varnish were applied this morning, then the four roundels this afternoon. I used the Libramodels roundels as none of the ones on the Pegasus sheet were the right size (just like the Union Jacks I suppose!). They have settled down very nicely, but oh crumbs, did a lot of sludge come off them! The backing sheet had yellowed with age, but that yellowing was what came off in huge amounts into the water the transfers had been dipped in. I had to swish the markings in the water to get it all off. When I rolled a damp cotton bud over the transfers to help settle them down onto the wing surfaces, the cotton bud turned yellow too...

 

 

 

The white part of the roundels has not been affected by yellowing at all, and has stopped the Linen under-colour coming through. All in all, I am very happy with how they behaved, sludge being borne in mind.

 

The list:

 

1 - refit the cabane struts (if they come out okay) - DONE

2 - refill wing holes -  DONE

3 - paint - DONE and varnish the top wing - DONE

4 - add the final transfers - DONE

5 - add the wing control horns

6 - rig it - IN PROGRESS

7 - add the wheels and retouch the paintwork

8 - add the tailplane struts

9 - add the pitot tube to the port forward strut

10 - make and add the wings hoops

 

Four down, one in progress and five relatively small things to do, it is getting there!

 

Thanks for looking, Ray

[Jinxman]

A little gem in the making I think.. 👍

[AdrianMF]

Decals look good on the model. I had some Matchbox He-70 decals like that - very disconcerting to see all the grot come off, but worked out OK in the end!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[CliffB]

That's looking very nice Ray, especially the peeks of the cockpit detail 

 

Cheers

[Ray S]

Hello all! I found out today that plastic aircraft with white metal engines do not fly very well!

 

To start at the beginning, I started to add more of the rigging this afternoon. I needed to do the back wires, and, unlike the day before yesterday, these wires went on first go, every time. I was using a pair of dividers to work out the lengths of thread. I was also using a pair of magnifiers which alters perspective, along with having a very poor area of focus. I then picked up the dividers, caught the model, and watched as it sailed off the workbench onto the floor.

 

It was with some trepidation that I picked it up, and found at all four of the cabane struts had popped out! Three were still attached to their rigging wires (thank goodness I attached the wires close to the struts!) and one had vanished. I re-fitted those three, then spent a very pleasant five minutes grovelling on the floor looking for my wood coloured 1cm long strut in the orangy-brown coloured fluffy carpet. It did not feed the carpet monster, I managed to retrieve it safe and sound, and is now fully cemented back in place.

 

I have decided to leave this for the rest of the day, so as far as the list is concerned it is the same as yesterday, plus:

 

11- repair damage to struts and rigging - DONE

 

@Jinxman, @AdrianMF and @CliffB, thanks for the comments! Adrian, the same thing happened with some Modeldecal markings I had for an EE Lightning, but I did not do the 'swish and wash' trick with them, I will try that next time. I was very disappointed with them I must say, but hopefully with my new-found skill I can get a better result.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray